Jury Finds Edgecomb Guilty for First-Degree Reckless Homicide

Theodore Edgecomb, 31, was charged with first-degree reckless homicide for shooting an immigration attorney after a road rage incident on the bridge by Brady St. and Holton St. in Milwaukee on Sept. 22, 2021.

“This case is part of the insanity that goes on in Milwaukee County with guns,” Judge David Borowski said. “A justice system that is constantly berated in certain segments of society is sometimes berated unfairly. This is a case where the justice system worked.”

Judge Borowski described an extremely diverse jury, contesting that they were “of the defendant’s peers.” They decided the defendant was guilty in 2 hours.

“Mr. Edgecomb brought a gun to a fist fight. This was not self-defense; this was homicide. The defendant is being sentenced for a homicide.”

Jason Cleereman died from a close-range headshot wound after exiting his vehicle to confront Edgecomb. The interaction started when Cleereman and his wife, Evanjelina Cleereman were driving, and swerved to miss Edgecomb on his bike. When Edgewood passed them at the stop light, he punched Cleereman through the open window. When Cleereman turned at the light, he exited his vehicle and approached Edgecomb, resulting in Cleereman’s fatal headshot wound.

Edgecomb fled the state after the incident, and was arrested in Elizabethtown, Kentucky for speeding, providing false information to an officer and possession of marijuana and open alcoholic beverage in a vehicle. When the police asked him if he knew why the Milwaukee Police Department were looking for him, he denied any knowledge. His trial was held in Milwaukee County court on April 8, 2022.

Edgecomb’s defense argued his actions were in self-defense. He claimed Cleereman was approaching him with racial slurs, threatening to kill him. Although Cleereman’s pocket knife was not visible to Edgecomb at the time, the defense believed he had intention to hurt Edgecomb upon his approach.

The State highlighted Edgecomb’s criminal history, informing the court of his misdemeanor charges and disorderly conduct in the Milwaukee courts in 2017, and his consistent behaviors, when he is being confronted in a situation, to be uncooperative.

“And then we’re here today,” Prosecutor Grant Huebner said, “where the defendant is on his bike, armed with a weapon he is not supposed to have, as a result of two court orders. And he decided to brandish the firearm, and shoot the victim in the head.”

The defense argued that Edgecomb’s case was “about as random as a case may be,” explaining that the action was not premeditated. They discussed the high tension in the world at the time of the incident, especially only being weeks after the Kenosha parade tragedy.

The State argued he had consciousness of guilt; he tried to get away from the homicide he committed by fleeing the state because of his other charges.

“He stepped at me, and the gun just went off,” Edgecomb testified.

The court sentenced Edgecomb up to 40 years in prison and $4,840 restitution to the victim’s wife.

• Count one: first-degree reckless homicide- 25 years of initial confinement, 12 years on extended supervision
• Count two: bail jumping- two years of initial confinement, two years on extended supervision
• Count three: misdemeanor bail jumping- 6 months in jail